Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) seemed to make a big realisation concerning Nigel Bates’ (Paul Bradley) future.

The soap legend has been acting as his best mate’s carer for months, but in the last week, their living arrangement has rapidly worsened.

Phil had a difficult weekend with Nige, who had forgotten that his wife Debbie (Nicola Duffett) had passed away.

He then proceeded to walk out into the square barefoot, and caused chaos in the kitchen when he accidentally poured boiling water over Phil’s arm.

Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) could see that her ex-husband was struggling, and urged him to seek help from elsewhere. She even questioned where Nigel’s estranged wife Julie (Karen Henthorn) had got to.

Phil admitted that as much as he was helping Nigel, he was receiving just as much support back. He simply couldn’t go back to being alone and wasn’t prepared to let him go.

In today’s instalment, it became clear that Nigel’s young-onset dementia was rapidly worsening, and he was now beginning to confuse Debbie and Julie.

Phil couldn’t contain his frustration when Nige then forgot who youngster Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown) was, and lashed out when he knocked over a picture of the iconic Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor).

Kat once again stepped in to hope some changes could be made to their situation, to no avail.

Later, when Lexi arrived, Phil hoped that Nigel could have a calming afternoon helping her with homework.

She had to prepare a piece based upon her life – and as she reflected on the death of her mum Lola (Danielle Harold), it became clear that he was drawing comparisons to Debbie.

The two then looked over some old photographs stuck on the fridge, reminiscing about those that Nigel lost over the years.

Becoming overwhelmed, he rushed out into the square gardens, with Lexi quickly following. He encouraged her to sit down on the bench beside him, and then broke some devastating news.

Echoing scenes that originally aired in 1995, he recalled the exact story about Debbie’s death that he had told his adoptive daughter Clare (Gemma Bissix) at the time.

He had, once again, mistook Lexi for Clare.

Phil and Kat watched on in horror, quickly jumping in to shut down their conversation. She told Phil that if he didn’t act now, he’d be back in a poor state of mental health within six months, or worse.

It was about time he called Julie.